AURORA | Before the sun had set July 20, and before James Holmes had first appeared before a judge, state officials who oversee courthouse security had cut a $30,000 check to the Arapahoe County sheriff’s office.
With the scope of the case becoming clear that morning, state officials knew the case would require extra personnel and likely have a hefty price tag for transportation.
“Things had to be put in place very quickly for those initial hearings,” said Steve Steadman, director of court security for the Colorado Judicial Branch.
Since then, the state has given another $290,000 in grants to the sheriff’s office to cover the extraordinary security the Holmes case has required. Steadman, who is also head of the state’s court security commission, said that sum is more than the 6-year-old commission has doled out for any other case.
“It’s a large amount, but I think it lines up very well, in a proportional sense, with the other cases we have had to deal with,” Steadman said. “The Holmes case is large, with a significant number of victims, significant local, state and national interest and it is very complex.”
Because the court case is ongoing, Steadman said he couldn’t get into exactly what kinds of security measures the state money covers. But in addition to overtime costs for deputies, he said it has paid for a closed-circuit television system at the courthouse that allows victims and media to watch the hearings from adjacent courtrooms. That system also allows security staff to keep an eye on multiple court rooms.
In court documents filed last month, Judge Carlos Samour said security during Holmes’ trial will also include a harness under Holmes’ clothes that will keep him shackled to the ground during his trial. Similar harnesses have been used in local trials before.
Arapahoe County has been home to several high-profile cases in the past, including the trials of two men in 2008 and 2009 who killed a murder witness and the witness’ fiancee. Those trials saw substantial added security, including deputies with metal detectors checking every person who entered the courtroom, as they do for the Holmes case. But Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said the security for this case has been unprecedented.
“Once it’s concluded we will find that this is probably the most demanding we have ever dealt with in terms of resource deployment and security,” Robinson said.
The sheriff declined to say how many overtime hours his deputies have logged on security for the case, but he said so far it has been substantial.
“This has been a unique responsibility in terms of putting together the security for the ongoing court matters for him,” he said.
State lawmakers launched the court security commission in 2007. Using money from court fees, the program helps local governments — particularly those in small and poor counties — pay for courthouse security efforts that they otherwise might not be able to afford.
Steadman said that in addition to those efforts, which have seen $11.5 million go to various counties, the commission also has an emergency grant program that can cover high-profile events like the Holmes case.
The program previously paid for security in Huerfano county when the so-called “Doherty Gang” — a Florida family wanted in connection with a multi-state crime spree — was apprehended after a shoot-out in that rural county.